NOVEL NEXT Chapter 62
Korea, GRS-owned headquarters.
“Hey, seriously, how long are we gonna stay like this? It’s about time to head back to the homeland.”
Coach Jang Seok-Hwan felt a knot tightening in his stomach. The new season was just days away. He couldn’t believe he’d been stuck here in Korea for weeks when he should’ve returned long ago…
“…Not yet. Not yet. We haven’t found the Prisoner.”
Despite Coach Jang Seok-Hwan’s urging, GRS’s Mid Laner Nightmare, Li Zhi-Xuan, shook his head.
Anyway, that stubborn kid…
‘This is driving me insane.’
For weeks now, Coach Jang had been grilled by everyone from GRS’s director, the front office team, PR, and development teams to even the CEO.
“Do you even know how long it’s been since the team practice?! Get him back quickly!”
“Ah, Coach Jang Seok-Hwan? We were hoping Li Zhi-Xuan and you would return to the homeland soon. We’re not getting through to the player.”
“Coach Jang, do you not have a calendar at home? It seems like it’s about time to come back.”
It seemed that due to Li Zhi-Xuan’s influence, the organization couldn’t force him to return.
In the end, poor Coach Jang was just caught in the middle, getting hammered from all sides.
It was a classic case of the woes of being a middle management under pressure.
‘Damn it.’
With stress eating away at him, he felt like he was losing his hair. In fact, there had been more hair in the drain than usual these past few days.
Of course, it wasn’t Coach Jang who was losing hair.
Before the organization started bombarding him with messages, he had been trying hard to persuade Li Zhi-Xuan to return.
Finding the whereabouts of the Prisoner was part of that effort too. He figured if he could figure out why Li Zhi-Xuan was still hanging on in Korea, they could solve it.
“Sigh.”
Unfortunately, finding any trace of the Prisoner felt like a distant wish. Reaching out to teams that had previously trialed the Prisoner proved fruitless as they too were avoiding him like the plague, clearly sick of hearing about the Prisoner.
“Prisoner? Stop looking for that guy; do you know how many calls I’ve received about him this month?”
It was obvious why teams that had been put off by the rumors of the Prisoner’s rare disease were now suddenly interested again.
Now, the Prisoner had become valuable.
The first jungler to reach 2000 points in Solo Queue.
If that was all, many teams might not feel the need to take on the risk that the rare disease posed, but the problem lay with what the Prisoner had shown.
‘The Prisoner went to 2000 points without any duos in Solo Queue. And an undefeated streak at that.’
35 consecutive wins in the highest tier of Solo Queue.
While achieving such a win rate from the lower tiers is rare, it’s not impossible. In fact, some professionals have managed to enter the Master tier with nearly 100% win rates through duos boosting their secondary accounts.
However, where the Prisoner achieved those 35 consecutive wins was not in Silver, Gold, or even Diamond or Master tiers.
It was in Challenger.
The Prisoner proved himself there.
If he hadn’t disappeared, how far could he have gone?
2100 points? 2200 points? Or even higher?
The answer remained unknown.
Now that the Prisoner was gone, even Coach Jang, who hadn’t understood Li Zhi-Xuan until now, could finally grasp why Li Zhi-Xuan was so obsessed with the Prisoner.
“Sigh.”
As part of his daily routine, Coach Jang opened up the community forums.
Just maybe, although it was unlikely, there might be a shred of information about the Prisoner.
– The Prisoner will return, The Prisoner will return, The Prisoner will return, The Prisoner will return, The Prisoner will return.
– Why isn’t the player returning? Why isn’t the player returning? Why isn’t the player returning? Why isn’t the player returning? Why isn’t the player returning? Why isn’t the player returning?
– The community really has gone to hell; if it’s going to be like this, just come back, Prisoner…
– Idiots, lol, why are you looking for the Prisoner here? Just look up; he’s right there.
– Just wow, lol, they’re treating him like a star in the night sky.
‘Of course.’
It was as chaotic as expected.
Ever since the Prisoner had vanished after achieving absurd feats, the entire Legends of League community had been half-paralyzed.
Every discussion revolved around the Prisoner or stories related to him.
With a deep sigh, Coach Jang turned to Li Zhi-Xuan, who was practically dead inside.
“I’ve checked all the funeral homes in the country. In the last month, seven people named Yujin have died, and none of them were the Prisoner. You checked too.”
“Then he’s probably not dead! Shouldn’t we look for hospitals instead?”
“Hey, do you even know how many hospitals are in this country…?!”
Coach Jang tried to raise his voice but then shook his head. What good would it do to yell and fight when he had to lead Li Zhi-Xuan here?
“Fine, you’ve probably checked hospitals too, right?”
“…You knew?”
It was a secret to Coach Jang that Li Zhi-Xuan was searching for the Prisoner through both legal and illegal means with his personal assistant.
If that got out, it would certainly affect both Li Zhi-Xuan and the team negatively.
However, even if he kept it a secret, Coach Jang wasn’t one to be trifled with.
“Impossible not to know.”
The reason Coach Jang had overlooked it was that he understood too well Li Zhi-Xuan’s obsession with the Prisoner.
It was madness that went beyond mere obsession.
And that madness peaked after the Prisoner hit 2000 points and vanished.
“I understand why you’re so obsessed with the Prisoner. You think if you’re with him, you can defeat Rainbow at the next Red Cup, right?”
“…Yes, that’s right.”
“I get it. It’s natural for a pro to have that kind of competitiveness. But it can’t be anymore. The team, and I, have done everything we can to support you. So it’s time to go back.”
After staring blankly at his monitor for a while, Li Zhi-Xuan finally opened his mouth after some time.
“…Alright, I’ll go back.”
“Good thinking.”
“But, Coach, you stay here.”
“What?”
“I’ll triple your salary for the time being. Please stay here until you find a lead on the Prisoner.”
In short, he was basically saying to drop everything else and act solely as a private investigator for the Prisoner.
“Ha.”
Coach Jang felt like something he had been holding onto snapped.
“Hey.”
He couldn’t hold it in any longer.
“Forget it.”
It might have been the first time Li Zhi-Xuan looked genuinely surprised as his eyes widened.
“…What?”
“I’m a coach for GRS, not your personal assistant. Are you kidding me?”
Coach Jang showed his anger.
“Money, yeah money’s great. But this isn’t it. If you want that, then I quit. Whether you go back to China or not, that’s your business. You’re an adult; handle it.”
Then, Coach Jang immediately dialed somewhere.
“Uh, Director? I can’t do this anymore. I’m quitting.”
“Hey, wait a minute!”
“You be quiet.”
“I’m sorry. I was wrong to think it through. I’ll go back to the homeland.”
Finally, as the normally proud Li Zhi-Xuan begged, Coach Jang slightly put down his phone.
“Really?”
“…Yes.”
In fact, Li Zhi-Xuan also knew how unreasonable he had been being.
The Prisoner was dead.
He had been trying hard to avoid that truth for so long, but now he had to accept it.
“…….”
Unless he planned to retire from pro gaming entirely, it was the right move to go back now.
No, he should have returned a long time ago.
“When you return, get back into practice and adjust your living patterns. You haven’t even slept properly since you got here.”
“…Yes.”
Coach Jang fiddled with his smartphone.
“I’ve booked your flight. It leaves tomorrow morning at 9 AM. So get everything sorted by then.”
“Okay.”
“Now take a break for today. And… do whatever you want today. Search for more leads on the Prisoner or whatever you feel like doing.”
“…Thank you.”
That was the most Coach Jang could do for him.
At least for today, he had to let Li Zhi-Xuan do as he pleased so it wouldn’t affect the upcoming season.
‘…I don’t know if he’ll be able to return as a starter right away though.’
No matter how much influence Li Zhi-Xuan had in GRS, being a starter had to come with backing from skill.
Yet, a long time had passed since he last participated in team practices.
‘He’ll figure it out.’
Coach Jang shook his head and left the room.
And….
“…….”
Left alone in the room, Li Zhi-Xuan stared blankly for a while before finally launching the Legends of League client.
It was the Korean server.
[Game Starting]
Li Zhi-Xuan queued up, believing in the faint and fragile hope of a miracle, even if he knew it was futile.